% of multiple beards?

[idgobble]

From my own experience I'd say about 5% of gobblers have multiple beards.  What do you think?   I could be way off.  I'm sure some of the multi beard birds I've got were descendants of some I got years ago.  I know one area where multi beards are more common than other areas. My theory is that it's a genetic trait.

[Yoder409]

I definitely think it's a trait that is more common in some areas or regions than others.

On my home turf area, I'd say multiple-beard birds comprise somewhere around 1-3% percent of the gobbler population, with the real number likely on the lower end of my guess.

[HookedonHooks]

I would venture to guess that it's probably more around the 1-2% number as well, at least realistically speaking.

But I don't know about you guys, it did seem like I saw more multi bearded birds harvested this season than ever before.

[guesswho]

One area I hunt about 20-25% of the birds are multibeards.  Another area in Georgia it seems about 10%.   Then other places I have yet to see a multibeard.   Me and a buddy doubled about 15 years ago on the place in Alabama.  Two birds sported 85" of beard.  I've killed roughly 15 multibeards off that one place.  It seems to me that the areas that produce a lot of multibeards also produce a lot of bearded hens.

And about 10-15% of the multibeards I see posted on forums aren't multibeards.

[GobbleNut]

It is without question a genetic trait. From what I have seen, it can also be very localized, as Ronnie (Guesswho) stated.  Here in southern NM in our Merriam's populations, it is almost non-existent. 

Doing some quick calculations, I would guess I have looked at somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-800 dead gobblers from this area over the years (and ten times that amount of live ones), and there have been exactly THREE (out of the in-hand, dead ones) with multiple beards in that time.  Two of those came from the same localized area. 

A hunter's chance of killing a multiple bearded gobbler around here is probably not quite as bad as that of winning the lottery,....but pretty darn close. 

I also agree that it can be difficult, in some cases, to tell a truly multiple-bearded bird from one just having a beard that is split.  Sometimes it is just wishful thinking on the part of the hunter. 

[Spitten and drummen]

In my opinion , It is certain areas that produce them more so than others. I look at it kinda of like Big bucks. Some ares produce better bucks and genetics are there for that. Where I hunt I have killed a 5 bearded bird and several 3 bearded ones. I would say around 15 to 20 percent of birds in my area are multi bearded.

[stinkpickle]

Farms where I've seen multi-bearded toms often had more bearded hens, too.  Perhaps, it's the same trait.

[nitro]

Not sure about percentages, but it is genetic. ( that much has been proven by research)..

I do have a Multibeard Grand  slam so I do have that going for me..

[THattaway]

Well below 1% in the areas I hunt but that is limited to 4-5 counties in one state though I am speaking for an extended family of hunters and friends. Bearded hens, well that's an entirely different subject and they seem to be more and more common these days in our area.

[WiLL B]

I've killed a bunch of multi beards and also see a lot of bearded hens in the same areas, Different states too. I also have buddies that hardly ever kill multibeards in different areas than I hunt in the same state. I'd just as soon kill a good heavy beard as a multibeard my self.

[Gooserbat]

I've kept track of the number of birds I've killed total and I know how many multiple beard birds are in the mix.  They equate to about 1 in 25. 

I also think it's somewhat a genetic trait that can and will be stronger in on area vs another.

[renegade19]

I've kept track of the number of birds I've killed total and I know how many multiple beard birds are in the mix.  They equate to about 1 in 25. 

I also think it's somewhat a genetic trait that can and will be stronger in on area vs another.

I don't have any science to back it up but I also think it's genetic.  We hunt a piece of public ground that produces a real high percentage of double bearded birds.  I also think birds with no spurs whatsoever are genetic an you might take several from a certain area.

[crenshawco]

I just looked at my turkey log book and it's 6.5% for me

[derek]

12.8% for me.

[TauntoHawk]

5.7% for my harvests

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk